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19 August 2010

I'm on vacation for the next week, and something I enjoy doing is heading up to the cottage to spend time with my Grandparents. I consider Banana Bread a speciality of mine and wanted to bring some up with me. You see, I love Banana Bread. I have turned making it into a science. I could probably put it together in my sleep and I have a pretty precise way of doing it.

I realized the other day that the first time I remember being conscious of my love for Banana Bread was actually at the cottage. I just remember eating it, knowing I had enjoyed it previously, but this is when I first recall vocalizing how much I enjoyed it. I can't for the life of me remember who I was told made it, I just know that it wasn't my Grandmother. The details are not important it's just a nice memory of a simple yet amazingly delicious cake in bread's clothing.

You see, Banana Bread is not about details and this is what makes it such a wonderful thing, it's so versatile. A good base recipe is resistant to a lot of mistakes and can be turned into muffins, cakes (layered or not), or loaves. It can be paired with many other flavours; peanut butter, chocolate, berries, nuts etc. It's tough to turn out a Banana Bread that doesn't taste good. It can be anything. Banana Bread is to Bakers what water is to Bruce Lee.

But when I made it the other night I was a little nervous, a little unsure. You see I was going to break in a new loaf pan. Until now I had been using a hand-me-down from my mother and my very scientific recipe was based on this pan. Would the new pan work as well as my old ? Would the timing need to be adjusted? Would it rise the same, would it be as moist? Was I going to be that person with a pan specific to Banana Bread?

Relief came when I got to the cottage and cut into my Banana Bread. I am happy to report that the new pan passed its test and accepted my recipe and process with grace and precision :). And since I bought two, I can now bask in simultaneous Banana Bread glory :).

However, I'm not going to give you my specific recipe for Banana Bread (I'm such a tease), but, I will direct you to my starting point.

Play with it, have fun with it, add what you like, remove what you don't, and see where it goes. Work with the batter and the batter will work with you :).

"I realized the other day that the first time I remember being conscious of my love for Banana Bread was actually at the cottage. I just remember eating it, knowing I had enjoyed it previously, but this is when I first recall vocalizing how much I enjoyed it. I can't for the life of me remember who I was told made it, I just know that it wasn't my Grandmother."

I'll remind you who made it ... it was me! That was my banana bread craze. I made that recipe for EVERYbody. Every time there were over ripened bananas, it was an excuse to make some more. I do have to say that everyone that had tried that particular recipe, just loved it. Not to brag, but I heard that a lot. Glad to hear that you enjoyed it too and that it left you with a nice memory.